Red Wake
by Dontai
Summary: The basic idea for the story was what happens to Necrons worlds caught in a warp storm or in places like the eye of terror? The second basic idea is what would happen if the emperor was suddenly resurrected. Enter the prophets who are bizarre and enigmatic. They are also the only ones beside the emperor who the chaos gods fear.
1. Chapter 1

He stared at grey readout of the unknown craft. He grabbed the hologram and twirled the image about. It was long cylinder with the ends being bigger than the middle section. The front of the ship was shaped like massive gaping maw. It would frighten the guard, but not a forty year old veteran. To him it meant nothing. It was a shape without form. He heard the technology analyst speak up, "This ship was reported drifting just past Proxima Centauri." His ears peeked up, "how did it get past are deep space patrols?"

He heard the analyst reply, "It didn't"

He frowned, "that should be impossible!"

The analyst kept his cool and kept on speaking slow but steady. This ship is small, only 1000 meters long. It is organic in nature just like the Tyranid ships, although far smaller. Its unique signature does not match any known ship in history of the imperium; it purely alien in nature. We're detecting four life forms on board."

…

His helmet-light illuminated the spidery insides, black material nearly impossible to see in the darkness. It looked like the black carapace of some demonic insect. Inside the ship was damp, sticky, and hot. He heard Marcus speak his name, "Jeremiah, I'm detecting an oxygen atmosphere. It seems that some form of environmental control came on line."

"Like somebody was expecting us," he asked?

"This ship must be ancient," He heard Joseph Grace say. He was off to his left. He seemed to be right; the ship looks as if it had been adrift for countless millennium. Yet space didn't age things, it preserved them.

Up ahead he saw five stasis pods. "I thought you said there were only four life forms?"

Marcus replied back, "the other one must be malfunctioning. The occupant is dead."

He wiped the glass lid of one of the containers. He was taken back because the occupant wasn't some slimy disgusting alien insect. She was human, just like him. She looks to be in her early twenties, a young petite woman with light brown hair, crystal blue eyes and pale almost translucent skin. He thought he saw her eyes flutter causing him to flinch. They hadn't moved. He shook off the sudden sense of dread. "I want this ship analyzed!"

..

The night was filled with terror and he woke in a cold sweat. He could only lay slumped over in bed as the fearful thoughts of terra burning raced through his mind. They were so vivid and real. They haunted his mind. He stumbled out of bed knocking over his glass of Cognac. He was startled when his combadge begin beeping. "There has been a breach in storage bay one," he heard over it.

"I must open it. She is beautiful." The man seemed to be in a trance. He was wearing the off hours fatigues which meant he must have been getting ready for bed. He grabbed him by the shoulder, "Are you freaking mad Demitrie? What in the hell are you doing?" He resists his grip and shrugged him off.

"What the hell," he said grabbing the marine's arm. The marine turns around and decks him in the face momentarily catching him off guard. He charges the marine and grabs him around the shoulders. They struggled for minute before Jeremiah was knocked to ground. The marine made a break for the stasis pod. "Stop," he screamed drawing his bolt pistol.

"Last warning," he said before he fired. The shot splinters the man's body spilling blood across the deck. Despite this, he drags his body to the stasis pods and started pressing something on the side of the tank. There was loud crack and hissing followed by momentary flash of light. The room fills with white billowing gas.

…

"He is alive," the doctor said entering the room, "but in critical condition. His Zeta waves appear to be normal. Chemical analysis returned normal."

The Psyker spoke up," I'm detecting no signs of telepathy or demonic incursion."

"You're trying to tell me a healthy marine just went insane and attempted to open the container? What is really puzzling is how he knew how to open it. What about are friend in quarantine?"

"She clearly is human expect her physiology is completely puzzling. She has extra Mitochondrial DNA in her cells."

"What does that mean?"

"Not a fucking clue. I can tell she has heightened state of metabolism which makes no sense because she has no digestive organs."

"Surgical or Genetic engineering," he asked?

"It looks like she was born that way."

"I don't mean to point out the elephant in the room but what her mouth for?"

"Communicating," the doctor said with a shrug, "even her lady parts are intact. She has several unidentified organs where digestive track should be."

"We have bigger issues," the resident psykers blurted out, "she has no presence in the warp."

"Tyranid," he said shocked by the revelation.

The Doctor just gave a shrug; it really didn't pertain to his field.

There was a glass of cognac in his hand as he scanned the records of the imperium. He was scanning for something, but it just wasn't here. She just wasn't here. Was she a Tyranid clone? If so, what was her purpose? She had no presence in the warp and was being transported on an organic ship. It smelled of Tyranid, but his first hunch was chaos. He kept flipping through pages. The images of her ship kept flashing back into mind like a torrential flood. He was short one man out of a thousand. The man wasn't even dead, yet why did it feel like he was. There were so many unanswered questions. Then there were the nightmares. They were prevalent and specific. All the cognac was doing was getting him closer to them. He smashed the glass against the bulkhead. There was emergence signal coming from his combadge. He stood up and grabbed his bolt pistol.

"He shot the doctor and then fled down the corridor," the guard said while holding the wounded doctor in the fireman position.

"Which way," he asked the guard who then pointed to his left.

"Demitrie," he said catching up to him and finding him stumbling down the corridor, "your behavior is unacceptable. Explain yourself?" Demitrie practically stumbled over while slowly and awkwardly turning. He was pale and drooling from mouth and there was a vacancy in his eyes.

"Shoot him," the doctor ordered after being carried in by a supporting battle brother. One of his battle brothers raised a bolter rifle and, without hesitation, open fired. He shrugged off the round seemingly impervious. Then he notice the bullets had dug into his body.

"Doctor, why is that man not dead?"

"He is dead," he tried to choke out under wheezing gasps; "he died two hours ago."

"Something was definitely not right. His eyes had disappeared. They weren't just lack of light black, but they were like a void. His eyes had completely dissolved. The man should have been blind yet he could see none the less. There was something unnatural about the void causing him to shutter.

Demitrie started chanting, "Dark is the mind. Dark is the void, the veil between life and death

He said it again louder and with more conviction, "Dark is the mind. Dark is the void, the veil between life and death."

This time he shouted it, with even more conviction, "Dark is the mind. Dark is the void, the veil between life and death."

The marine fired on Demitrie again and again under a hail of words. Finally, Demitrie lay still.

"Burn the body," he said staring down in shock at his friend and comrade tattered remains. It was a marine's order. It was a master's order.

"But," the doctor tried to argue but he cut him off. He knew what he was going to say. We need to keep the body to study it and to assess the threat.

"I don't want anyone else ending up like him."

…

In his bed he tossed and turns. Demitrie face was burned into his mind like a blow torch. Those eyes were screaming. He shot up, he saw the woman staring at him from with his own mind. He got up and rushed out the door. He stopped when he saw one of his battle brothers, a one Martinez, was in full battle armor. He was wandering down the corridor. "What is wrong," he asked already in a heighten state of alert. Martinez opened fired shredding the door and nearby wall. He rushed back into his room looking for his bolt pistol.

He heard someone saying, "Everything ok?" The sound of Bolter rifle filled the corridor. He grabbed the bolter pistol and rushed out the door. One of his battle brothers lay dead and Martinez reign of terror was continuing. Jeremiah open fired on him. The rounds harmlessly bouncing off his armor, the few that penetrated barely slowed him down. Another unarmored marine had arrived with a bolter rifle and fired into him. He wouldn't be stopped though. All the while Jeremiah was powerless to help. He heard a heavy bolter opened up. He peeks out the door to see Martinez shredded and blood pouring from thousand fatal wounds. The wounded marine raised his bolt rifle to his head and pulled trigged completely removing his helmet and his head.

…

He hit the woman across the face. She was deathly silent.

"No more silent treatment, no more games. You had your fun who are you?"

"I must object sir," the doctor said, "We don't know the nature of the threat." He wasn't a timid man, but he was hesitant.

"Two men are dead. How many more before we put this witch to death?" He raised his pistol and fired. One moment she was there, the next she was gone.

"Alert," he said over his combadge, "the xeno has escaped. Kill her on sight."

"We have bigger problems," he heard back over his combadge.

Static -

Under attack …

Static -

Sleepers awakened …

Gun fire -

The storage bay was a complete mess with bodies thrown about. Four of his men lay slain along with twenty support staff. The three remaining xenos woke up on their own and had mercilessly slaughter his men.

"This makes no sense," Joseph says studying the corpse. "There are no bullet wounds. Not a scratch on some of the bodies. So why is there blood everywhere and some of the bodies torn in half? I fear we are about to find the answers. I fear this may be an even greater threat than we realized." He nodded.

"A threat that mimics Tyranids but acts as if their working for chaos," he said. "They're like a greater demon. One thing is clear, Joseph. They're anything but human."

"Have you been having nightmares," Joseph asked? He was taken back and caught off guard. Already the faintest memories of nightmares came screaming back.

He nodded, "Yes, how did you know?"

"I keep seeing terra burning. It haunting and maddening."

"Is it trickery or deceit?"

Joseph shook his head causing his long light brown hair that blended in with his skin to sway back and forth. "Why show us necrons burning terra to the ground if she was going to do it? Why the necron at all? What in the hell does that mean?"

"I haven't clue. The mystery just keeps deepening. I'm almost lost in the sea of facts but yet I'm no closer to a stable answer. I fear I may drown soon."

…

How could he sleep? How could he read? Do anything but sit and wait for the nightmare to unfold and swallow him whole? When he saw his combadge beep he knew it hadn't taken long.

"We have situation!"

"I already know …"

Every previously slain, cut in half or not, had come back to life. The more mangled had regenerated their body to certain extent, just enough to come back to life. There were armed with nothing but a bad attitude, but it would be long before they found weapons.

The men were already firing on the cadavers. It was also already apparent it wasn't having an effect. They were just like Demitrie, void eyes. The small group f void eyes were making break strait for them. For every one slowed by gun fire riddling their bodies with .75 caliber rounds, ten got closer. There just wasn't enough firepower. One of void eye closed the distant to the battle brothers and there was a bright flash of light. The man had exploded spraying blood across the room as a trail of light shot into the void eye seemingly healing it wounds.

He picked up bolt rifle and fired into creature. This was reason Martinez shot himself in the head. So he wouldn't come back. "Retreat we need fully geared battle brother on this deck now. We have to hold them to help arrives."

He ordered them to reform into firing line ahead of the creature and when they closed the distance, open fire. It scored a few kills. But these damn things were impervious to bullets. They were like daemon, but much much worse. Close proximity was a death sentence. "Aim for the head," he orders.

It seemed to do the trick; it got a few more kill. It required complete destruction of person head to banish these creatures.

He couldn't risk the possession spreading further while waiting for his battle brothers. "Evacuate this deck and seal it!"

…

"After 72 hours the men infected or possessed, whatever you want to call it, die from quite sudden mummification," the doctor said. "Once initial transference of life force is complete, that is what we're calling it, in twenty-four hours the target revives as a ghoul. Within the next 72 hour period the ghoul must drain the life force or its body will mummify and it will die. The body of everyone who dies here must be contained for 72 hours. Anyone caught will be at risk of being killed at best or at worse becoming a ghoul, a soul leech. They are resistant towards bullets, flamers and meltas are more effective."

He stood after the doctor finished. He cleared his throat and then spoke clear and loud as he could, "The other three occupants of the alien ship have not vanished, they are loose on this ship. They must be exterminated."

The man had been spotted by patrols. No one knew how they were avoiding the internal sensors. He had snapped maintenance workers neck like a twig and tried to run away. The guard had chased him to maintenance locker where he was cornered. He stood amongst his men in full gear and wearing his power armor. He fired alongside them. The corner animal still had teeth. He raised his hand and from within his chest streamed a blue light that made the wailing sound like a banshee. It collided with them sending him and his men tumbling across the deck. "What the hell," he said standing up. The man was fast closing the distance and back handed him hard enough to break his jaw. He stood up ignoring the pain. He charges the man and tackled him to the ground. The man retaliated by kicking him hard enough to send him colliding with the ceiling shattering it. He didn't have enough time to recover before the man stomped on his chest plate crushing it and breaking several ribs. He pulled out his concealed side arm and fired. The man ignored the rounds and kept him pinned to ground. Suddenly a spinning chain sword slashes through man ribs causing him to fall backwards. He leaps to his feet to confront his new attacker, Joseph. He meets the chapter captain with a charge but a spinning cut eviscerates him. The next blow is a perfectly timed decapitation. The man exploded into a bright flash of light and disappeared into void of darkness.

"Captain the crew is going insane. We have reports of nightmares, delusion, and schizophrenia. If we don't kill the girl alien and the rest of them we will kill ourselves. He had to drag himself off the examination table because of his broken ribs. "I know," he said punching the titanium bulk head. The pain of his broken hand temporally block out his ribs. He stared at the dent he made. "We searched the ship twenty four times, she not on board!"

"Then why does the madness persist?"

"Because she is not on board the ship …"

On bridge he stared a gaping maw of the ship in front of him. It was insult to entire human race and the imperium. It was just sitting there, like obscene Christmas ornament. "Prepare to fire all weapons at enemy ship," he ordered.

"What," one of the crew stuttered?

"Fire," he orders. They didn't hesitate this time.

It with stood first volley, but he was already seeing damage to the hull. "Again," he ordered. The ship was engulfed in an explosion and was blown into burning charred pieces across the cosmos. He heard gun fire from behind him, excellent. The trap had worked as expected. He would lore the two other xenos to the bridge to prevent the destruction of their ship. His men were ready for them. He rose to his feet flamer in hand. Outside the bridge in the corridor, he saw one of the men back away by flamers. The other one was engaging Joseph unsuccessfully in melee combat. He pulled out a melta bomb and tossed it at the one pinned down by flamers. His body exploded into spray of gore. The other xeno watch his men die so horribly that telepathically, if he had to guess, threw Joseph out of the way. He sent waves of pulsing and spinning energy hammering down on him. He was ready; he leaped out of the way. "Not bad," he mutters, "for seventy year old man." He charges at him before throwing an incendiary grenade. It explodes blinding and stunning the xeno right before his power sword collided with man's heart. He began to shutter and blink before exploding.

..

He was so relieved for the nightmare to be over. He pours himself a cognac and prepares for bed. As he changed into his off hour wear, he sees the woman laughing in his mind. "No," he screamed throwing entire bottle cognac. The laughing was no longer in his head but in the room. She was holding the bottle of cognac. "You really didn't think that would work," she asked pouring herself a drink? "Don't you think that last battle was little too easy."

He pulled out his side arm and fired, he only mange to shoot holes in his bed. She just started laughing. "I'm not really here," she says, "I never been here. I always loved this stuff. This is a good year." She tosses the bottle back to him.

"What the hell do you want," he asks? He was so exhausted that a second later he collapses onto his desk.

"You," she says with a smile.

72 hours later

He heard far off screaming. He stepped over fallen battle brother; his throat had been torn out. He saw all too familiar message about the void scribbled on the wall: 'The shadow of life is the void between life and death'. He had no idea what it meant, but it started appearing right after the fall of the ship. He had waited this long hoping to figure out where she was. She was here. He knew it because she spoke to him in his mind and filling his head with image terra burning. They started early on but he couldn't make sense of them. He saw one of his battle brothers praying to the words written above him. It sickened him. He put his bolt pistol to the man's head and fired. He slumped dead against the wall. He stepped on to the elevator and click the bridge button The Bridge was dark and the flashing lights just made it spooky. As he walked toward the bridge he saw several ghouls, one of which was doctor, trying to coax the last bit of life from the victim who was withering in agony. He raised his rifle and fired blowing the two of the ghouls away. The doctor rose to his feet and stared at him with vacant eyes; his body had begun partially mummifying. He staggered but his body was far too badly decayed to move with speed or grace. He open fired splitting his body in half with one part just barely hanging on. He moved past him. There were many more ghouls on this deck. They formed groups as they sought out the living. There was a make shift barricade to hold off the swarm of ghouls, but it had been overrun long ago. Bodies lay across the barricade desecrated and ripped to shred. Several ghouls remained after the battle starved for the living. They shambled toward him only to melt from the melta that was burning away their flesh and bone. The bridge door wouldn't open without power so he kicks it in. He had one final task to accomplish: destroy the ship. It ends here. He types in a code in the main command computer in front of the chapter master's seat next to the captain chair. Red buttons with chapter symbol rose from conceal position on the console. He heard voice from behind,

"We are the necrocytes. We exist in the Shadow of life, the void between life and death. Your end is our begging. We have arrived to preach the message."

"What message," he asked too tired to raise his weapon which lay scatter on the floor?

"The down fall of mankind," she said "You must warn terra of images you have witnessed."

"Why do you keep showing me these damn images," he asked slumped over in his seat?

"They are a warning of the future, your future."

"If this is a friendly little warning, why kill my crew and threaten my life?"

"My knowledge is not given freely. There must always be price. Balance in the universe."

"So the price is my crew?"

"Something you love dear for something you love even more dearly."

"Terra," he finished for her.

"The emperor," she added.

"Is not the worth of your crew worth less to you than all of humanity?"

"What is your stake in this? Why help us at all?"

"We need souls of the living to survive. It's not something we take lightly or without feeling remorse. We are timeless."

"More like you need us. If the human race ceases to exist there will be no more souls to harvest."

"You're entitled to view situation as you please. The knowledge is yours to keep."

"Now what happens?"

She vanished in a blaze of darkness. Her presence was gone from his mind. He hit the communication button to turn on his radio. "This is Jeremiah, the last survivor of the Astartes ship Flames of Liberty. I bring a warning of imminent necron threat …"


	2. revelation

The emperor awoke from the darkness of a terrible nightmare. Even with his hazy memory of last ten thousand years, he could still remember brief flashes and vivid glimpses of the visions; premonition of the tragedy. He saw them for thousands of years unable to act on it. A crowd of tech priest going about their assigned maintenance routes had stumbled across him and was huddled together near the entrance to the golden throne. The sound of their gasping brought him back in to the present. He already knew why they were surprised, his inexplicable recovery. Even his scars had faded which was yet another unexplained miracle. He didn't understand how he returned to the mortal world on the eve of Armageddon, but was just thankful he did.

"This is impossible," one of the tech priests says separating himself from the crowd. "You're dead."

"It appears not," the Emperor says turning to look at him, "I should be dead though. What brought me back?"

"I did," A female voice says seemingly coming from the shadows. It was like someone enters from some unseen door. A female figure steps into the room and into view.

"You," he says, "I told you not to trouble my people. You know the consequences for such an action."

"Cast your judgment somewhere else," she says. "I'm the only reason your back. Without me you would still be fighting off the chaos gods."

"You are indeed the only one powerful enough to defy the Chaos Gods and free me from my eternal struggle against them. But you are a trickster and deceiver. Everything you give come with a price. "

"The fate of the entire universe is at stake. We are not without mercy."

"When it's necessary," he says gritting his teeth. "You suit your own agendas!"

"Your world needs a stronger leader, a hero to lead them to victory. Without it, mankind will surely fall to the red wake."

"So this is your doing," he wasn't asking a question.

"In your own words, necessary," she says. "You've seen the fires, the image of terra burning. We cannot, will not, just stand by." Her elegant red hair and autumn eyes were in a fierce taut expression of anger.

"They defied you," he says, "The Necrons."

"The C'tan has defied me. They threaten our will over the universe, like the trivial little ants they are."

"Not so trivial if you're threatened by them."

She no longer could look at him; she cast her gaze to golden throne. "They need to learn compliancy."

"So this is it? Is this what it's all about, that they must be punished for disobedience? We're just pawns?" When the conversation had turned against her, instead of sticking it out, she just chose to give up. Afterward she just vanished without another word. She was predictable if not persistent. It was just like when they first met. He turns back to the crowd of tech priest who were distracted, but mange to nod. He realized there was another presence in the room. There appears more purpose to her visit than just to talk with him. He tried to say his name but chokes on the words.

"They are not without a sense of humor father," Horus says. "She freed my eternal soul from the chaos gods. I'm merely a shade bound to her and unable to escape. It's unfitting that I am reconciled for my sins. She just thought you would find it most pleasing to see me bound like a puppet on a string."

"It is," the Emperor says turning to face him. "It's great to see you went from one puppet master to another. Luckily, it's better to see you bound by force than by your own gullible choice. I don't have time for her games. I have more pressing matters."

"You have been keeping secrets. You knew about her before."

"She claimed to be a prophet who can reveal the future. I told her not to interfere with my people again or I would destroy her."

"Yet," he says rubbing his fingers against the metal surface of the golden doors. It was the first time he had touched a metal surface an over six millennium and seeing the imperial palace for even longer. Horus had been intangible spirit picked apart by chaos gods, each fighting for a piece of his eternal soul. Somehow his soul was snatched from right under their noses. "She ends up saving your people in the end, Ironic? If you think about it, she saved your hide twice. It looks as if …"

"No," Emperor says running his finger through his hair, "she is a deceiver. I will never trust a single thing she says."

"What did she show you?"

"You," the Emperor says coldly.

"You knew?"

"I refused to believe it. Even on my grave, I refused to believe you're such a fool. I couldn't kill my children, what father could? My children had no such issues."

…

The Emperor had no idea about this chapter master and had no time to look up his past history. He entered the interrogation room and sat down next to him, but not across from him. This wasn't an interrogation. "You have seen her, the prophet," the emperor asked? This caused such a startle for Jeremiah that he fell out of his seat. He began mumbling to himself, "I have gone mad. My eyes deceive me. What trickery is this?"

"No trickery," he said in a reassuring voice while looking down at him, "In mankind's darkest hour I have returned."

"It has been man kind's darkest hour for the last ten thousand years." The thought of the last ten thousand years without the Emperor angered Jeremiah greatly and caused his voce to stutter.

"It may have been dark, brutal by all accounts. But mankind has lived on."

Jeremiah rose skeptically and kept his eyes glued on what he deemed an imposter or hallucination. He sat down beside him, "What miracle brought you back. These prophet you speak of, is it the witch? I met her before."

"Correct, you have met the supposed prophets. My awakening sadly is not by my own design or making. You can thank the witch, as you call her. They're no blessing to humanity and serve only their own ends. What is that end, no one knows."

"What you don't know, you know very well." It was spoken by an all too familiar voice echoing back from the past.

Jeremiah stood up and faces his old acquaintance. "You," he said shocked, "You have returned!"

"My purpose isn't complete," she said making a pretentious and mocking face. She was lying that much the emperor knew all too well. He never understood there bizarre enigmatic behavior.

"What purpose is that," he asked?

"Well keep guessing. What the emperor came here to tell you is of the threat to the entire human race, if not entire universe. As we waste time arguing over the past, one of the last Necron C'tan will awaken in a part of real space consumed by the warp known to you as the Eye of Terror. Now what is substantial that your people don't know is that C'tan has no presence in the warp. They would be like something from your old earth legends, a ghost. Now what to C'tan consume?"

Jeremiah gave a weak shrug.

"They are kindred," the Emperor says crossing his arm in disgust.

"You would dare to compare us to the C'tan?"

"They attacked the first worlds to be reunited by earth an overwhelming force. Each of the worlds in turn was consumed by a plague before all life was stripped from their surface. They're monsters that feed off of the life-force of all living things."

"You kill cattle indiscriminately with no regards to their life. Is it simply because they have no sense of intelligence? "

The words built up in Emperor's mind, comparing humans to cattle, the nerve of these demons and this one demon in particular. He yoked her up by throat, "You're a parasite destroying worlds. Demons are not alive."

"What comprises life? We eat, breath, and reproduce. We respond to are environment. We grow and change evolving because of stimuli. You can't deny that were alive and part of this universe, just because you hate us doesn't change that."

"Wow," the Emperor said surprised by her humility and the fact she was such a pleasant conversationalist. "You know, you're really civil for a demon. All your pretty words don't change a thing though." All his years facing the enemy in every horrible unimaginable form, he never met one willing to sit down and chat. This didn't disguise the fact she was a demon and that she was no different than any of the others.

"Why does she look human," Jeremiah asks taking notice of her lack of mutations or bizarre mixture of species. For all intended purpose she was trying to pass herself off as a human being.

"It's personal choice I guess. I have only seen one of them before, her. She chooses to appear human every time we meet. In the warp they appear like endless chaotic storms."

"We believe the human to be the most pure Arch type. Why corrupt the appearance with bestial mutation and exaggerations."

He frowned, "Because you're a mockery of the human form."

She gives a fake smile to emperor, "cute." She continues speaking of the C'tan, "A second evolutionary event is about to transpire for the entire C'tan race. What is the warp made out of?"

"Energy," Jeremiah said coming to a shocking and startling revelation.

"Correct," she says, "The C'tan have found a new _and previously __unattainable food _source back when they were at_ the height of their power_, the warp. A more dangerous fact exists; only three things escape the debilitation and corrupting of effects of the warp. Two of three things exist in this very room."

The emperor closes his eyes and a small part of his far reaching mind. He spoke slowly as he was trying to escape from the memory of the war, "She is right. This C'tan has become corrupted. In time he will become the fifth dark god. Though the other gods can't see him; they're still threat. He seeks to exterminate mankind as it's their primary source of power. They're created by emotional turbulence of humanity. Without humanity they cease to exist. Exterminate humanity, exterminate the dark gods."

"Indeed father," Horus takes a step out of the shadows.

"It seems there is so much I don't understand," Jeremiah says.

"To stop the end you have start at the beginning," she explains.

"I owe them a debt," the Emperor said grudgingly admitting it. "Without them, I would have never escaped from eternal struggle against the Dark Gods. They resurrected me and Horus for some ill purpose."

"That is not for us to say," she said sitting in her usual naked form.

"Either way, I have arrived in time for the end of the human race. The crusade will start anew. The greatest threat is yet to be revealed, The Red Wake."

"What is it," Jeremiah asked

"The C'tan has a host of Necron servants trapped with him in the immaterium. They too have been corrupted by the warp. The prophesized release of his army into real space is called 'The Red wake', the death of hope. He is also experimenting with daemons trapped inside Necrodermis, not of their choosing either."

"Heresy," Jeremiah said hating every moment of these turn of events.

…

"You can't be the Emperor," the crowd chanted. It was to be expected, a thousand years without him and the possibility that he was more than idea or symbol was blasphemy.

"I'm indeed the emperor; I've seen your battles. I was there for each and every one. I know the doubt you must all be feeling, but know this, the Inquisition can doubt me but they can't stop me. I'm the god Emperor and by my divine right, you will hear me and obey. From this point on, you will not fire on the Eldar."

"We must exterminate the alien, mutant, the heretic."

"Wrong," he said with underlying firm icy edge to his voice. "You think that this is what I wanted for my people? This, this hellish existence, is the future I envisioned? The Eldar were to become our allies. This nightmare has to end."

"The other men may have been fooled," Lord Daren Swift, an inquisitor, says drawing his side arm, "but not me." He fires a shot that was easily deflected. "I'm the Emperor and no man has the right to question me. No man has the right to deny my existence. I reclaimed my throne from stagnation of this era. Now bow," he says furious," bow and then serve." He reaches out and strikes with his mind forcing the crowd to their knees. "You will obey. You have no choice."

One of the marines, of the Ultra marine company, stands up proudly stating, "Anyone that refuse to obey is a traitor and will be struck down in the name of the god Emperor." Soon other marines stood up.

"I'm Ibram Gaunt, the Tanith First-and-Only stand ready to serve the god Emperor."

Soon others joined in the chanting and began bowing before him in respect. The streets outside the imperial palace were full of admiring denizens of imperium.

"From this moment onward," he said raising his hand to the stars above, "beyond my grave, you will not strike down the alien. You will not make war with the alien, unless he strikes first. We'll bring peace to the galaxy through war. Through the sword, we will bring peace and rebuild the Terran Empire. Every race will march under a single banner and to a single beat. This is the age of tanks and the guard. This is age of space marines and battle brothers. This is the age of man!"

He watches them chant and hoot with revere, "This is the age of man!" His people had recognized their messiah once again.

"Ibram, you will bring your forces to earth. It will soon be under attack. We will need the Eldar to win the day."

He bowed, "as you order."

…

The Emperor and a small amount of imperial guards were surrounded by Eldar soldiers. They had upon landing been ambushed in a beautiful clearing surrounded by perpetual sea of wildflowers and strange twisted trees. It would have been beautiful if not for the urgency of the situation. She had her sword to his throat; it was all part of a plan by his own design. A plan she couldn't comprehend.

"Emperor," she says, "funny seeing you being dead and all."

"Yes, I have been getting that a lot lately."

"I bet. You walk in here lightly armed and guarded. I could sever the head of the snake with single stroke. "

"I'm afraid you're on my world and this is my game. I have been tracking you this entire time. You were completely unaware that I had detected you. The hunter had become the hunted." He reaches out to vastness of universe creating a psychic bond with her. Her eyes went wide, "what trickery is this?"

"Bow," he demanded. She was too confused to respond. He wasn't asking and when she didn't respond, when her guards move to protected her, he lashes out with unimaginable amounts psychic energy sending her tumbling to ground both painfully and violently. "I spent the last ten thousands year fighting off the chaos gods. I have become more powerful then you could possibly imagine." There was somber tone to his voice overlaid by sadness. His face turns from the harsh almost unbearably sad and grief to a more pleasant smile. He searches the field for the only dead flower and plucks it from the ground. He cups her hand around it, "It was all part of knocking you off your pedestal." He opens her soft tender hands, "A gift to reveal the feeling woman behind those burning soft crystal blue eyes."

The decayed dried up flower had been brought back to life more vibrant and beautiful than all the flowers in the field. She only could stare at it. He wipes the hair from the gash across her forehead and then rests his hand on it. He removes his hand revealing the gash had vanished.

He reaches into his formal imperial robes and pulls out a small fragment. He drops the fragment in her lap. She is mortified and he knows why. It was sacred part to Eldar history, the war god Khaine's sword that was shattered when he fought Slaanesh. It had been lost since the fall of the Eldar. In the early days of his death, his Psyche had been torn apart by the chaos gods. They struggle to overcome him and absorb him. Then something quite remarkable happened. He came across one of the pieces to the sword. It gave him the strength to fight back and hold his essence together. He spent the next thousand years collecting them from within the warp.

"You cannot have such things. None of the mortal world can own such things."

"It's said who wields a fragment owns one-tenth the power of the god of war. I own them all and I'm entrusting them to you."

"No, this is impossible. You're a liar."

"Sorry," he says sitting down next to her, "much has changed and much more must change for us to survive. You believe incorrectly your gods are dead. Even though Khaine is the only one who is in a position to be reborn, the other gods are very much alive. You're not going to like what has to come next. You're going to bring about the rebirth of Khaine. His form has been destroyed but his essence remains. You're going to bind his essence to your body. An order for this to work an elder Farseer must remake these fragment into blade and thrust it into his or her heart."

"I would be reborn," she says from between trembling lips, "how can a human be entrusted to our survival."

"Because our differences mean little to khaine and with my help, you will become a god."

…

He was alone amongst their kind. He wasn't worried, but their stares persisted. They wanted to know why he was here. They would know soon enough. An Eldar ushers him over but he doesn't take his eyes away from the window and the view outside of it. "The Farseer asks to see you," the steward asks again.

He waves him off, "I'll be there soon."

The planet was beautiful with its endless field of flowers attended by the elder. He walks there slowly taking in the air and his surroundings. But he could sense the urgency.

He slowly strolled into the seers lodge, but taking in all the sights and sounds. "I'm scared," she says looking at him when he enters.

"You shouldn't be. Your greatest wish is to make the Eldar whole mind, body, soul. With this power you can do all of that and more. You fear the new beginning and an end to all of this." He grabs her hand, "be ready to be reborn." She sheds a tear and he wipes it away, "For your people!"

"I'm ready," She whispers, "How did you just walk into my life. It's just too much to bear."

"Time is the one thing we're short on." He looks away and grimace. Her death was unfair.

"Do it," she screams! He kisses her on the cheek and thrust the blade forward. The Eldar Tah' illia was bathed in a heavenly warm glow. Then her body is fallen and she is reborn in a twisting towering inferno of laughter before the room is washed with fire that soon engulfs the building. The female version of khaine stands before him and continues to laugh. "Puny mortal dares to bring me to life; I'm the immortal god of war. Your puny existence is trifling."

"I'm not afraid," he stands his ground with his clothes all but burned away. "I fear no man and I fear no god. I brought you into this world as I promised. Now it's your turn to uphold your end of the bargain. I have brought you to life. Now your people need your help." Her voice goes silent for a moment and the fire sinks away. Khaine vanishes and the Tah' illia returns. "I'm alive. I'm me," she says softly almost forgetting her voice and staring at her hands like she doesn't recognize them. "But I'm not me. I'm khaine." He is inside me.

"Why did you come here," she asks?

"You know the answers ..."

"You need our help to stop are greatest enemy. But we need your help as well. All along we were so blind and ignorant. We need each other." She began to collapse but he catches her. She looks up in his arms to see him smiling, "I got you."

She puts he hand on his cheek, "I know." She slips into unconsciousness.

..

This twisted labyrinth of filth and decadence, they called Commorragh. No Eldar would have wished to step foot in to this cursed city. But to be the first one, it was overwhelming. True, one could argue they were Eldar but that would be insulting. For as long she could remember, she was hunted by their wicked sisters. If only the gods could see them now, at what they have become. They have willingly abandoned everything that made them Eldar. In one stroke she was going to eliminate them. She hadn't seen it first hand; most of the first born were killed in birth of Slaanesh. Her mom use to tell her tales of the time before the Eldar lost their sense of morality and become these pitiful excuses. Slaanesh did them a favor and put them out of their misery. It only angers her that her mom had been robbed from her.

She stared at first few dark Eldar guards wielding Agoniser wips that sparked and crackled. "You know not of your gods or mistakes of your ancestor." She takes a deep breath before speaking again. The air smelled putrid, something that would make Nurgle giddy. "But your retribution is at hand." She caught one of the wips by hand and melted it. It was clear demonstration in her mind that any attempts to resist were futile.

The older guards had just enough brains left to wonder how she did that. But the younger and less seasoned soldier charged in with splinter weaponry. She sighed to herself before letting them make the first move, open fire on her. The youth never learn. This is what Khaine revel in, what he had been waiting for. The unending slaughter of the enemies of the Eldar, but she wanted no part of it. She was a vessel for khaine essence, not khaine himself. But in her heart, she knew she wasn't just a vessel. She had become one with khaine. She was in much of a right to judge as khaine himself.

"What are you," she asks of her twisted siblings, "a shadow of the Eldar?" They began to coughing up blood and fall to their knees. "Our gods died because of you. It's only fair that you do the same." She brought the blackened stone structures crashing down around the webway entrance. Then for dramatic effect she set the rubble ablaze as it falls to ground. She knelled down by the only remain dark Eldar in the entire province, "tell Asdrubael I'm coming for him personally."

"Who are you," he asks choking on the smoke and ash?

"Khaine," Her voice had becomes guttural and harsh as she spoke his name.

…

He must have not survived the inferno because they hadn't even mobilized their defense. As she enters the blackened street, she spots corpses hanging from buildings like perverse decoration and littering the streets. Entire buildings were built from the body parts of the torture victims. "I have come to repent the sinner." She let herself go and released control of her body to Kaine. She had become the living twisted inferno of laughter. He raised one hand like a claw and started to laugh as the entire city began falling down around him. He stretched off into the distance causing the entire palace tower to come crashing down.

"What the hell are you," khaine has hard time hearing him speaking over the sound of entire city collapsing. It was Asdrubael. He was just staring in shock at the towering inferno. From his expression he was having a nightmare come to life.

"Don't you recognize your god," she asks curious?

"You are not one of the gods of legends, they're farce. They can't possibly be real."

"You're such a weak minded Eldar. You thought your judgment was avoidable? How naive you are." Her voice boomed like thunder and her foot step left burning trenches in the ruins of the city. "I have been trapped and abandoned. To think a human had to set me free because you were too busy playing in your little city. Watch it burn!" She set the city ablaze and confines of the webway were choked with smoke.

Asdrubael unsheathed his Venom Blade and charge her. She laughed at the attempt. The wall of flames had completely crippled his attack. "What's wrong you can't harm a towering inferno?" He recoils and wipes the sweat from his brow. He pulls back his coat and cape to reveal a grenade Launcher equipped with hallucinogenic Phantasm poison. He fired several volley and pulls out a splinter rifle. He fires at khaines head causing her to shield her face and momentarily slowing her down. While she is stunned, he runs over to a crate on the far corner of the city street. He pulls out a dark lance which he rustles with until he can steady it. The attack was a ruse though; the Dais of Destruction comes crashing through the ruins. "Even you can't survive this," he cries taking up his throne.

The volley cause Khaine to loose balance and fall over into nearby structure causing it to collapse on top of her and bury he underneath. He and his crew of the Dais of Destruction begin to cheer at their easy victory. The victory was short lived. She climbs out of the ruins less a solid object and more an intangible inferno. They open fire again and again at nothing.

She reaches out and the Dais of Destruction begins to shake, soon violent ripping itself apart. The vehicle spiral out control and careens into building and explodes. With Asdrubael crippled, khaine says with unpleasant laugh, "Your soul belongs to me." With that khaine rips his soul from his body and the city is left to burn.


	3. We live for the one, we die for the one

"So here we stand," the Emperor said speaking in a grim tone, not of a place, but this moment in time. He was sitting in the command chair for the Vanguard of the Emperor, also known as the Vanguard for Eternity. It was a new prototype Battle Barge based on his original flagship lost during the Horus Heresy. It was 6.85 Km long from stem to stern, 1.52 Km wide, and possessing some of the most advance technologies possessed by the imperium of man and in use by the fleet. The funny part, it wasn't meant for him. It wasn't even destined for any particular space marine chapter. It was supposed to be symbolic. Accompanying him as an escorts were two of the most legendary Ark Mechanicus. He looks down at his console and notice the screen has lit up, he wasn't surprised. He had been on edge all day waiting for the battle to start. He wasn't too keen on the idea of waiting to die. Over the intercom the tech priests were giving the ships there final rites to the machine spirit. A gesture he was sure the Necron didn't understand nor care about.

The ships of Necron Empire had never been seen by human eyes, except in his visions. He saw an eclipse in his vision that wasn't the moon; it was a Necron vessel as big as a small planet. Its swooping arcs like enormous wings signaling the end. He started calling it the Necropolis, a labyrinth of the dead. From it the surface was covered in Necron soldiers, like an army of ants swallowing the world. The Necropolis was flanked by two massive scythes in space, Necron mobile fortress protecting it. They fired two shots that split the North American continent in half. It was the most horrific of the visions. But now he had a chance of preventing it. There was also an unknown ship that wasn't in his visions. It was roughly diamond shape with massive rings surrounding the pyramids. The Necron fleet also had a number of smaller ships like the Cairn Class Tomb Ships, monoliths, and the Scythe Class Harvesters. The ones humanity had already encountered. "Tell the Eldar to move their fleet into position." Amongst the dull grey Imperial vessels were the sleek silver Eldar vessels coming into position alongside them, like some frightening bird of prey.

"Attention all captains, humans or otherwise. The largest Necron vessel ahead of you is our target. It has no name, but it is undoubtedly the most dangerous ship out there. All Imperium vessels target the ship with Nova cannons and a full missile Salvo. We'll wait for Terra Nor to fire her Nova-cannons. " Terra nor, he thought taking a quick look back at it, was and still is, the largest space station in existence. Meant to house the now bloated Adeptus Ministorum before the crusades, it was destroyed during the Horus Heresy. Then it was subsequently rebuilt bigger if not stronger. The bright flash of Terra-nor's weapons was in itself as bright as a star, but combined with the fleet, the entire heaven shown. In space the blast was massive and impressive to all who witness it and the massive debris field only lead to disillusion of damage. The ship had only sustained minor damage.

"The Necrons are moving the smaller monoliths forward."

"How many" he asked?

"Twenty-two thousand," he heard back.

"Forward weapon batteries hold position until in optimal range."

"Their closing the gap," His tactical offer was showing signs of fear. It was the good kind of fear. There was resolve in his voice.

"Signal earth and tell them to bring the ground based weapon to bear, and then fire our Laces when they close the distant." There was massive quaking across the ships and the tactical offer had this to say,

"We have taken massive damage across the fleet. At least forty-two Necron ships are heavily damage from the strike, but the target itself suffered minimal damage."

"Fire all weapons," the Emperor orders. Their brief pause was followed by the sky over terra being filed with explosion …

"Nearly half of our ships have been destroyed!" The Necron have lost one third of their forces. The imperial navy reports that the majority of their ships are still intact, but the space marines report that their fleet has nearly been wiped-out." Outside the ships a single monolith got too close to one of his Ark Mechanicus escorts and in just one salvo gets cracked in half.

"This is the Emperor to all vessel, we're going in. Our ships are going to attack the largest Necron craft at point blank range, try to cover me if you can. His ship was far too large and bulky to be agile, instead forced to soak up the damage. The shields were buckling and according to his personal command console, they were going to be down to armor when this was over with. Suddenly a massive shot from Necropolis streaks past his ship. "How did that shot miss us?" He saw the exact same answer at the exact same time as his tactical officer, it wasn't aiming at them. Terra-nor was ripped apart from that ship's massive weapon blast, the same one that cracked North America like an egg. It fired again clipping one of his escort Mechanicus ships. The ship took too much damage and in its dying moments, collides with the enemy that shot it. The explosion punches creates the only hole through its living defenses. "All vessels target the breach with full Nova-cannon support." The Necropolis explodes and the resulting debris destroys hundreds of more monoliths. Pieces were ricocheting off the hulls of the other ships resulting in titanic explosions. It was the begging of the end for Necrons.

"Farseer," one the female home-guards tried to tell her. Someone was trying to get her attention but she was just fixated on the massive engulfing explosion. When she feels a clammy hand on her shoulder she jumps. "The human vessel, the one with the emperor on board, is about to be attacked by the escorts of the larger vessel. What should we do?"

"We will not leave them to their fate. Eldar do not abandon their own. All vessels engage that ship." There was a brief pause to get in range and another to fire. Every moment she felt the sweat drip from her brow.

She heard, "thanks to our attack, the human were made aware of threat and have escape." The news caused her heart to take flight.

"Farseer the ancient enemy is no longer targeting the fleet, their targeting the hive stations."

There are billions of people on board those stations …"

"Emperor …" His tactical officer had never mange to finish his sentence. He was watching the exact same thing; Emperor watches the hive station orbiting earth being ripped apart from Necron weapon's fire. "There were billions of people on board those stations. The Necron were losing the fight, so they target helpless woman and children instead of continuing the fight?"

"They are true monsters," the tactical officer replied. The Emperor could only nod in agreement.

"Tell the fleet to put themselves …"

"It too late, all the hive stations have been destroyed and I'm registering multiple impacts across terra surface."

"No more, we have suffered enough this day. All vessels prepare to fire at will. They will pay for the blood they spilled this day."

"Sir, their locking weapons on terra, the tactical officer never turn around faster or tried as hard to find answer in the Emperor's eyes. The Emperor knew the cost would be dire, but to see it firsthand, to see sentient race targeting civilians indiscriminately. He was god amongst the mortal, but even his weakness was his heart. This day he was metaphorically stabbed in the heart. They would make him pay for his victory. This was just cruel. Death was not good enough for these Necrons.

"Their making a suicidal charge for the planet!"

"No," he screams clawing at his face, "Not again! I will deny you earth!" The Vanguard positioned it self between surviving Necron fleet and earth. Then it fired blindly into the oncoming ships. The Necron were reckless and suicidal, as they charged into the fire. It didn't matter if they survived, they had one final purpose. The emperor only became aware of it too late. A Necron monolith was on collision course with his ship. He just stood up and snarled at them until he faded to blackness. He would see them in hell.

His face was covered in blood, his jaw was broken, and he could feel his broken ribs when he moved. The ship had held together. He crawled to open window and force himself to stand up and look. Terra was burning. He had failed, but this time it was different, the damage was less. He had to get down there.

He had dragged his wound body at least five hundred feet from the escape pods. The world was hardly recognizable. It was just mass of rubble. He passed Imperial guards who were running in opposite direction. He saw what they running from, flayed one. "I'm done," he said standing his ground and preparing to become a Martyr. Suddenly las rifle burst cracked one of the flayed one's body.

"We live for the one, we die for the one."

The Imperia- Guard was fighting the Necron advance and the battle was all around him. Despite the apparent danger he was going to submit. He defiantly crawled his way toward the Necrons, dragged himself onto the hilt of sword, and swung his sword into the flayed one. He manages to kill three before the final one put him down again. But his people would not let him die. He was forced to watch the battle unfold, powerless to stop it. Then as his mind simply gave up, he heard distinct sound …

"We are Khaine's bloody hand," her howling banshees chanted. Her fury leaked out like a drug, driving her banshees to acts of violence that scared her. The Necrons fortunate enough not to die by their hands faced the wrath of her newly developed psychic skills. She sent forces of lighting that melted the Necron bodies into puddles of metallic liquids. As a clawed hand struck down for the Emperor, she catches it. The bloody god's fury was upon her. They fought for control over her body causing it to rippled and morphed between her two forms. When she saw Emperor's broken lifeless body, she drove away khaine's rage and regained control. She desperately tried to drag him away from the fighting, but she couldn't carry his bulk.

"We will help you" Ibram Gaunt said, "We live for the one, we die for the one."


End file.
